Historically, both summer steelhead and spring Chinook salmon migrated to their spawning grounds in the upper Deschutes, Metolius and Crooked Rivers. Although Pelton Round Butte was constructed with fish-passage facilities, the downstream system failed.

New Web site on Deschutes passage project
PGE is working on a project that will allow salmon and steelhead to migrate past three Deschutes River three dams for the first time since 1968. For the full story and the latest news, explore DeschutesPassage.com, a PGE Web site dedicated to this project.

The downstream fish passage problem was created in large part by the currents in Lake Billy Chinook (PDF) swirling in eddies with no particular direction. Juvenile salmon and steelhead rarely found their way toward the Pacific.

To address the problem, PGE and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will build a $108 million 273-foot underwater tower that rises from the lake bottom behind Round Butte Dam. A large V-screen at the top of the tower will allow the surface water to mix with colder Metolius River water, altering the current (PDF) and attracting fish.

Fish will be screened at the intake and trucked downstream of the dams for release on their journey to the Pacific. The tower will also allow PGE to better mimic pre-project temperatures in the Deschutes River.

These improvements will potentially reopen a new fish passage area of 226 stream miles to salmon and steelhead migration.

Steelhead and spring chinook fry released
Since 2007, about 2.5 million juvenile salmon and steelhead have been released in waters above Round Butte Dam in preparation for completion of the new fish passage system. More than 1.7 million summer steelhead fry have been released into the upper Deschutes River, the Crooked River and their tributaries. More than 740,000 spring Chinook fry have been released into the Metolius River and its tributaries; Whychus Creek in the Deschutes River system and the Crooked River.

$130 million investment
PGE and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation will invest more than $130 million over the next 50 years for fish-related work in the Deschutes basin.